Methods, systems and computer readable mediums for providing a rich menu for instant messaging services

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are a system, method, device, and/or non-transitory computer readable medium for providing an instant messaging service implemented with a computer. The method includes receiving a request on establishing a conversation interface with an official account registered at the instant messaging service from a client, providing a rich menu user interface associated with the official account on a portion of the conversation interface when the client establishes the conversation interface in response to the request, receiving a selection on a display item included in the rich menu from the client, identifying content associated with the selected display item by a manager of the official account, and providing the identified content to the client through the conversation interface.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This U.S. non-provisional application claims the benefit of priorityunder 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0021144filed on Feb. 11, 2015, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office(KIPO), the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Example embodiments of the inventive concepts described herein relate totechnology for providing content associated with an official accountthrough an instant messaging service.

As a communication tool, an instant messenger may be software capable ofsending and receiving a message or data in real time and may allow auser to register a conversation partner at a messenger and to exchange amessage with a conversation partner of a conversation partner list inreal time.

The messenger function may be widely used at a mobile environment of amobile communication terminal as well as at a personal computer. Forexample, mobile messenger service system and method of a portableterminal using a wireless communication network to allow a messengerservice to be provided between mobile messengers installed on theportable terminals.

SUMMARY

Example embodiments of the inventive concepts provide methods, systems,devices, and/or computer readable mediums, capable of allowing anofficial account manager to use a portion of a menu displayed on anofficial account interface.

Furthermore, example embodiments of the inventive concepts providemethods, systems, devices, and/or computer readable mediums, capable ofproviding a rich menu associated with an official account through anofficial account interface and providing content matched with acorresponding menu in selecting the rich menu.

One aspect of example embodiments of the inventive concepts are directedto provide a method for providing an instant messaging serviceimplemented with a computer. The method includes receiving a request toestablish a conversation interface with an official account registeredat the instant messaging service from a client, providing a rich menuuser interface associated with the official account on a portion of theconversation interface when the client establishes the conversationinterface in response to the request, the rich menu user interfaceincluding at least one display item, receiving a selection on the atleast one display item included in the rich menu user interface from theclient, identifying content associated with the selected display item bya manager of the official account, and providing the identified contentassociated with the selected display item to the client through theconversation interface.

According to at least one example embodiment, the providing of theidentified content may include transmitting a desired keyword throughthe conversation interface to the client when the desired keyword isassociated with the content at the selected display item.

According to at least one example embodiment, the providing of theidentified content may include transmitting a uniform resource locator(URL) including information associated with a desired web page throughthe conversation interface when the URL is associated with the contentat the selected display item.

According to at least one example embodiment, the providing of theidentified content may include transmitting an action code through theconversation interface when the action code is associated with thecontent at the display item, the action code including computer readableinstructions that call a desired program on the client.

According to at least one example embodiment, the method may includeproviding a rich menu construction tool for constructing the rich menuwith respect to the manager, and connecting the content to each of theat least one display items included in the rich menu through the richmenu tool.

According to at least one example embodiment, the rich menu tool mayinclude a template type selection function to select a template type onthe rich menu and a content connection function to connect the contentto each user interface area included in a template.

According to at least one example embodiment, the rich menu tool mayinclude an image setting function to set an image of the rich menu basedon the template type, or a text setting function to set a text and anicon of the rich menu.

According to at least one example embodiment, the rich menu tool mayinclude at least one of a display function to set a display on/offsetting of the rich menu or a duration function to set a displayduration setting of the rich menu.

According to at least one example embodiment, the content connectionfunction may connect a keyword input or an URL input as the content.

Another aspect of example embodiments of the inventive concepts isdirected towards a non-transitory computer-readable medium includingcomputer readable instructions for controlling a computer system to,when executed, provide an instant messaging service method. The methodmay include receiving a request to establish a conversation interfacewith an official account registered at the instant messaging servicefrom a client, providing a rich menu user interface associated with theofficial account on a portion of the conversation interface when theclient establishes the conversation interface in response to therequest, the rich menu user interface including at least one displayitem, receiving a selection on the at least one display item included inthe rich menu user interface from the client, identifying contentassociated with the selected display item by a manager of the officialaccount, and providing the identified content associated with theselected display item to the client through the conversation interface.

Another aspect of example embodiments of the inventive concepts directedtowards a device for providing an instant messaging service. The devicemay include a memory having computer readable instructions storedthereon, and at least one processor configured to execute the computerreadable instructions to, transmit a request to establish a conversationinterface with an official account registered at the instant messagingservice, display a rich menu user interface associated with the officialaccount on a portion of the conversation interface upon establishing theconversation interface, the rich menu user interface including at leastone display item, receive a selection input related to the at least onedisplay item included in the rich menu user interface, transmit arequest to receive content associated with the selected display item,receive the content associated with the selected display item, anddisplay the received content through the conversation interface.

According to at least one example embodiment, the receiving of thecontent may include displaying the content through the conversationinterface by the message when the received content is a desired keyword.

According to at least one example embodiment, the receiving of thecontent may include executing a web page corresponding to a desired URLwhen the received content is the desired URL.

According to at least one example embodiment, the receiving of thecontent may include executing a desired program when the receivedcontent includes an action code for calling the desired program.

Still another aspect of example embodiments of the inventive conceptsare directed towards provide a system for providing an instant messagingservice. The system may include a memory having computer readableinstructions stored thereon, and at least one processor configured toexecute the computer readable instructions to register a rich menu userinterface in connection with an official account through a managementtool on the official account by a manager of the official accountregistered at the instant messaging service, and provide the rich menuuser interface linked to the official account on a portion of theconversation interface when a client establishes a conversationinterface with the official account.

According to at least one example embodiment, the at least one processormay be configured to receive a selection of a display item included inthe rich menu from the client, identify content associated with theselected display item by the manager, and provide the identified contentto the client through the conversation interface.

According to at least one example embodiment, the management tool mayinclude a template type selection function to select a template type onthe rich menu user interface, and a content connection function toconnect the content to each user interface area included in a template.

According to at least one example embodiment, the management tool mayinclude an image setting function to set an image of the rich menu userinterface based on the template type, or a text setting function to seta text and an icon of the rich menu user interface.

According to at least one example embodiment, the management tool mayinclude at least one of a display function to set a display on/offsetting of the rich menu user interface, or a duration function to set adisplay duration setting of the rich menu user interface.

According to at least one example embodiment, the content connectionfunction may input a keyword or an URL as the content.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The foregoing and other features of inventive concepts will be apparentfrom the more particular description of non-limiting example embodimentsof inventive concepts, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings inwhich like reference characters refer to like parts throughout thedifferent views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasisinstead being placed upon illustrating principles of inventive concepts.In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a communication environment using amessenger, according to at least one example embodiment of the inventiveconcepts;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of acommunication system, according to at least one example embodiment ofthe inventive concepts;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a communication method according toat least one example embodiment of the inventive concepts;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams illustrating an CMS environment forregistering a rich menu, according to at least one example embodiment ofthe inventive concepts;

FIGS. 6 to 10 are diagrams illustrating a process for displaying anofficial account rich menu, according to at least one example embodimentof the inventive concepts;

FIGS. 11 to 13 are diagrams illustrating a process for providing contentassociated with an official account rich menu according to some exampleembodiments of the inventive concepts; and

FIG. 14 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an internalconfiguration of a computer system according to at least one example ofthe inventive concepts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various example embodiments will now be described more fully withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which some exampleembodiments are shown. Example embodiments, may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as being limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, these example embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and willfully convey the scope of example embodiments of inventive concepts tothose of ordinary skill in the art. In the drawings, the thicknesses oflayers and regions are exaggerated for clarity. Like referencecharacters and/or numerals in the drawings denote like elements, andthus their description may be omitted.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being“connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyconnected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are nointervening elements present. Other words used to describe therelationship between elements or layers should be interpreted in a likefashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus“directly adjacent,” “on” versus “directly on”). As used herein the term“and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items.

It will be understood that, although the terms “first”, “second”, etc.may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions,layers and/or sections. These elements, components, regions, layersand/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms areonly used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer orsection from another element, component, region, layer or section. Thus,a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed belowcould be termed a second element, component, region, layer or sectionwithout departing from the teachings of example embodiments.

Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,”“upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description todescribe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) orfeature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that thespatially relative terms are intended to encompass differentorientations of the device in use or operation in addition to theorientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in thefigures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” otherelements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elementsor features. Thus, the term “below” can encompass both an orientation ofabove and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptorsused herein interpreted accordingly.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exampleembodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“comprises”, “comprising”, “includes” and/or “including,” if usedherein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps,operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presenceor addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components and/or groups thereof. Expressions such as “atleast one of,” when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire listof elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference tocross-sectional illustrations that are schematic illustrations ofidealized embodiments (and intermediate structures) of exampleembodiments. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations asa result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances,are to be expected. Thus, example embodiments should not be construed aslimited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein but areto include deviations in shapes that result, for example, frommanufacturing. For example, an implanted region illustrated as arectangle may have rounded or curved features and/or a gradient ofimplant concentration at its edges rather than a binary change fromimplanted to non-implanted region. Likewise, a buried region formed byimplantation may result in some implantation in the region between theburied region and the surface through which the implantation takesplace. Thus, the regions illustrated in the figures are schematic innature and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the actual shapeof a region of a device and are not intended to limit the scope ofexample embodiments.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. Itwill be further understood that terms, such as those defined incommonly-used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaningthat is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant artand will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal senseunless expressly so defined herein. Example embodiments of the inventiveconcepts relate to technology for providing content through an instantmessaging service, and in particular, to method, system, and/or computerreadable medium, capable of providing content associated with acorresponding account through a conversation interface with an accountregistered at an instant messaging service.

The “official account” described herein may refer to an account that hasbeen officially certified by the instant messaging service as beingassociated with a person (e.g., a celebrity, a public figure, apolitician, etc.) and/or entity, such as a business, company,corporation, organization, service group, advertiser, governmentalagency, etc., that provides a variety of information associated with theperson and/or entity for example, brand information, enterpriseinformation, artist information, entertainer information, mediainformation, and the like, on a messenger service, software and/orapplication (hereinafter messenger service). The information may beopened and recommended to all users using the messenger service.Furthermore, the “official account” may additionally refer to an accountwhich a user is able to add as a conversation partner by permitting themto be automatically recommended to a messenger user based on a desiredcondition and/or desired range of conditions. For example, the “officialaccount” may include an account which is recommended to users satisfyingdesired demographic conditions such as an age, a sex, geographicresidence, occupation, education level, salary level, and the like, anaccount which is recommended to users who have input authorizationcodes, accepted invitations, or the like, through various paths (orroutes) on an online network (e.g., the Internet, an intranet, a LAN, aWAN, a PAN, a communication network, etc.) or an offline network (e.g.,a physical mail network, etc.), or the like.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a communication environment using amessenger service, according to at least one example embodiment of theinventive concepts. In FIG. 1, there are illustrated a user terminal101, a manager terminal 102, and a communication system 100. Thecommunication system may refer to a server, a distributed processingnetwork, etc. In FIG. 1, the arrows may mean that data is transmittedand received between components over a communication and/or datanetwork, such as a wired and/or wireless network.

The user terminal 101 and the manager terminal 102 may each include oneor more terminal devices capable of installing and executing aservice-dedicated application or connecting to a web/mobile siteassociated with the communication system 100, such as a personalcomputer (PC), a laptop computer, a smart phone, a tablet, a wearablecomputer, a PDA, and the like. Here, the manager terminal 102 may referto a terminal device which is used to manage an official account by anindividual or a company (including one or more members) having anofficial account (e.g., certified account, verified account, etc.)registered at an instant messaging service, as a content provider ofproviding content to service users through the instant messagingservice.

Here, under the control of a web/mobile site or a dedicated softwareapplication, e.g., a smart device app, a web applet, a computer program,etc., the user terminal 101 and the manager terminal 102 may perform anoverall operation of an instant messaging service including servicescreen construction and/or generation, data input, data transmission andreception, data storage, and the like.

The communication system 100 may act as a messenger platform whichprovides an instant messaging service to one or more client terminals.In other words, the communication system 100 may be a system thatprovides a messenger service allowing data to be exchanged between amessenger account of at least one user terminal 101 and a messengeraccount of at least one manager terminal 102. In particular, in thisexample embodiment, the communication system 100 may provide a richcommunication function for providing content associated with an officialaccount through a conversation interface with an official account of themanager terminal 102. To this end, the communication system 100 mayprovide a content management system (CMS) environment which makes itpossible to freely construct a menu for rich communication of anofficial account with respect to an official account manager.

The communication system 100 may be implemented in such a way that it isincluded in a platform of at least one messenger server (notillustrated) for providing an instant messaging service. However, thescope and spirit of the inventive concepts may not be limited thereto.For example, the communication system 100 may be implemented with asystem independent of a messenger server so as to manage an officialaccount in conjunction with the messenger server. At least a portion ofcomponents of the communication system 100 may be implemented byapplications installed on the user terminal 101 and the manager terminal102 or may be implemented in such a way that it is included in aplatform for providing a service in a client-server environment.

Below, at least one example embodiment on a rich communication functionwill be described with respect to an official account. However, thescope and spirit of the inventive concepts may not be limited thereto.For example, a rich communication function may be extended to allmessenger accounts. For example, even though an account is not anofficial account, individuals respectively having messenger accounts mayconstruct a rich menu, and a rich communication function may be providedbetween individuals and/or accounts.

In the case where a rich menu is used as a marketing model such as apromotion or advertisement means and the like, it may be possible toimplement a platform for managing registration, display, charging, andthe like on the rich menu. The communication system 100 may provide amarketing solution using a rich menu of an official account by includingthe platform or in conjunction with the platform.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of acommunication system, according to at least one example embodiment ofthe inventive concepts, and FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating acommunication method according to at least one example embodiment of theinventive concepts.

A communication system 200 according to at least one example embodimentof the inventive concepts may include one or more computing devices,such as a server, that include at least one processor 210, a bus 220, anetwork interface 230, a memory 240, and database 250, etc. The memory240 may include an operating system 241 and a service provision routine242, etc. The processor 210 may include computer readable instructionsfor specially programming the processor 210 as a registration unit 211,a recognition unit 212, and/or a provision unit 213. In other exampleembodiments, the communication system 200 may include a greater orlesser number of components than that shown in FIG. 2. For example, thecommunication system 200 may include any other components such as adisplay, a transceiver, and the like.

The memory 240 may be a computer-readable recording medium and mayinclude a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), and/or apermanent mass storage device such as a disk drive, or a solid statedrive. Stored in the memory 240 is program code for the operating system241 and the service provision routine 242, as well as the computerreadable instructions associated with the registration unit 211, arecognition unit 212, and/or a provision unit 213. Such softwarecomponents may be loaded from a computer-readable recording medium,which is independent of the memory 240, using drive mechanism (notillustrated). The computer-readable recording medium independent of thememory 240 may include a computer-readable recording medium, such as afloppy drive, a disk drive, a tape drive, a DVD/CD-ROM drive, a memorycard, a solid state drive, or the like. In other example embodiments,software components may be loaded onto the memory 240 through thenetwork interface 230, instead of or in addition to thecomputer-readable record medium.

The bus 220 may enable communication and data transmission to beperformed between components of the communication system 200. The bus220 may be implemented using a high-speed serial bus, a parallel bus, astorage area network (SAN), and/or any other appropriate communicationtechnology.

The network interface 230 may be a computer hardware component forconnecting the communication system 200 to a computer network. Thenetwork interface 230 may connect the communication system 200 to acomputer network through a wired and/or wireless connection.

The database 250 may store and retain all information associated with arich menu, such as content matched (e.g., associated with and/or relatedto) with the rich menu of an official account, associated with one ormore official accounts, respectively. In FIG. 2, at least one exampleembodiment of the inventive concepts is exemplified as the database 250is implemented in the communication system 200. However, the scope andspirit of the inventive concepts may not be limited thereto. Forexample, the database 250 may be omitted according to a systemimplementation manner or environment, or the whole or a portion of thedatabase 250 may be implemented with external databases constructed on aseparate server, or other communication systems.

The processor 210 may process an instruction of a computer program byperforming an arithmetic operation, a logic operation, and aninput/output operation of the communication system 200. The memory 240or the network interface 230 may provide the instruction to theprocessor 210 through the bus 220. The processor 210 may be configuredto execute program code for the registration unit 211, the recognitionunit 212, and the provision unit 213. The program code may be stored ata recording device such as the memory 240.

The registration unit 211, the recognition unit 212, and the provisionunit 213 may be configured to perform steps 310 to 330 of FIG. 3.

In step 310, the registration unit 211 may provide a CMS environment onan official account to an official account manager, thereby making itpossible to register a rich menu associated with the official accountbased on a setting of the official account manager. The registrationunit 211 may provide or generate a user interface tool which allows theofficial account manager to input a desired label (e.g., an image,animation, video, audio, and/or a text) at a conversation interface ofthe official account and to provide an environment in which a companyassociated with the official account freely uses a portion of theconversation interface with the official account. Accordingly, it may bepossible to construct and register a rich menu of the official accountbased on the label received through the tool. The tool for registeringthe rich menu may provide templates having various sorts and structureswith respect to the rich menu, and the rich menu may be constructed inthe format of an image, in the format of combination of text and icon, avideo, an animation, an audio clip, and/or the like, based on a templateselected by the official account manager.

The recognition unit 212 may recognize a user instruction input throughan instant messaging service application executing on a client terminal.In particular, the recognition unit 212 may receive, from a clientterminal, an instruction (e.g., entering request instruction) forrequesting establishing a conversation interface with an officialaccount registered at the instant messaging service, an instruction(e.g., selection instruction) for selecting a rich menu of the officialaccount, and the like.

In step 320, if establishing the conversation interface with theofficial account is requested from the client terminal, the provisionunit 213 may provide and/or generate a rich menu associated with anofficial account corresponding to the conversation interface with theofficial account. For example, if a user enters a chat room with anofficial account, the provision unit 213 may display a rich menuregistered by an official account manager at a partial area of acorresponding chat room, for example, a bottom end portion thereof inproviding the chat room.

In step 330, if a rich menu is selected by the client terminal, theprovision unit 213 may provide a desired (or, alternatively,predetermined) content to the rich menu through a conversation interfacewith an official account. In other words, in the case where a userselects a display list included in the rich menu, the provision unit 213may identify content previously matched by an official account managerin connection with the selected display list and may then provide theidentified content to a client terminal through the conversationinterface with an official account.

In the rich menu, content set by the official account manager may belinked, and the link may be input and set in the format of a keywordreply message and/or a uniform resource locator (URL). A link of therich menu may make it possible to connect to all web pages having a“HTTP” format and to various formats of content such as a text, asticker (emoticon), an image, a voice communication, a contact, a video,an audio recording, and the like.

In the keyword example embodiment, if a rich menu is selected at a chatroom with an official account, the keyword linked to the rich menu maybe transmitted to a client terminal, which corresponds to the sameaction as if the official account manager directly inputs the keyword. Akeyword linked to the rich menu may be displayed at the chat room withthe official account as if the client terminal receives the keyword withrespect to the selection of the rich menu. In the URL exampleembodiment, like a web page shortcut action, a web page of an URL linkedto the rich menu may be immediately opened according to selection of therich menu.

As such, a link of the rich menu may include action code which a userintends to appoint to the rich menu and may identify and call an actionfor providing content through a conversation interface with an officialaccount. Linked to the rich menu are the following types of actions,capable of being provided in connection with a messenger, as well as akeyword transfer or web page shortcut: a promotion link, anadvertisement link, a document link, a voice phone call dialing, a videocall dialing, a sending of e-mail, a sending of a message, a sharingthrough a social media service, a memo alert, a note alert, a contactalert, a multimedia (e.g., music, a video, and the like) reproduction, amap view, a file download, and the like. Accordingly, an officialaccount manager may use the rich menu to provide a variety ofinformation or guiding a keyword response message. Furthermore, a linkof the rich menu may be used as various communication channels forconnecting information for client terminals, such as content,advertisement, contact information, such as telephone number, e-mail,etc., and the like to the rich menu.

Below, there will be described a CMS environment for registering a richmenu of an official account according to at least one exampleembodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a rich menu setting screen 400 according to at leastone example embodiment of the inventive concepts.

Referring to FIG. 4, a rich menu setting screen 400 may be a managertool for setting a rich menu which guides a keyword response message ordisplays a variety of information through a chat room, and may include adisplay on/off setting menu 410 for setting a display on/off of a richmenu, a display duration setting menu 420 for setting display durationof the rich menu, and a template selection menu 430 for selecting atemplate of the rich menu.

The display duration setting menu 420 may include a function for settinga desired duration when a rich menu is displayed at a chat room of anofficial account and may be configured to set the display duration bythe date and/or time, for example in the year/month/day/time format.

The template selection menu 430 may include a function for selecting atemplate type and may include a function for creating a rich menu byselecting one of an image format (“image creation”), the format ofcombination of text and icon (“text+icon creation”), a video format(“video creation”), an animation format (“animation creation”), an audioformat (“audio creation”), etc. The number of items constituting a richmenu and a structure of the rich menu may be decided according to atemplate type selected through the template selection menu 430.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, in the case where an official account managerselects “image creation” of the template selection menu 430,image-shaped template types may be presented and a menu for selectingone thereof may be provided; additionally and/or simultaneously, theremay be provided an image setting menu 440 for setting an image displayedthrough a rich menu as an associated menu and a link setting menu 450for setting a link to the rich menu.

In the case of increasing the rich menu with an image, the image settingmenu 440 may include a function for uploading an image. Images may beunified and uploaded regardless of the number of areas in a selectedtemplate.

The link setting menu 450 may be a function for setting a link to therich menu and may include a menu for displaying a template type selectedthrough the template selection menu 430 and setting links on respectiveareas of a corresponding template. The link may be set by selecting oneof a keyword, URL, and/or a no setting. In the case where a templateincludes a plurality of areas, different links may be respectively setto the areas and may be distinguishable through coordinate values of theareas. An area of a template where an image and a link value are not setmay display a “set” state, and an area of the template where an imageand a link value are set may display an “edit” state. Displaying of therich menu may be possible if each area of a template is set with animage and a link value.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, in the case where the official account managerselects “icon+image creation” of a template selection menu 530, templatetypes having a combination of a text and an icon may be presented and amenu for selecting one or more thereof may be provided; additionallyand/or simultaneously, there may be provided a link setting menu 550 forsetting a link to a template having a combination of a text and an iconas a rich menu.

The link setting menu 550 may be a function for setting a link to therich menu and may include a menu for displaying a template type selectedthrough the template selection menu 530 and setting links on respectiveareas of a corresponding template. Here, the link setting menu 550 mayinclude a function for setting icons of areas of a template, a functionfor setting a label (text), and/or a function for setting a link. Thelink may be set by selecting one of a keyword and an URL. Likewise, anarea of a template where a text and a link value are not set may displaya “set” state, and an area of the template where a text and a link valueare set may display an “edit” state.

Each of the above-described rich menu setting screens 400 and 500 mayprovide a preview function for previewing how a rich menu is displayedat a chat room based on a setting state of an official account manageraccording to at least one example embodiment.

In at least one example embodiment of the inventive concepts, a tool maybe provided which allows the official account manager to directlyconstruct and/or generate a partial area displayed at a chat room withan official account as a rich menu, thereby making it possible for theofficial account manager to use the rich menu as a desired communicationchannel and to provide a look and feel, such as an advertisement area ora mini homepage, through the rich menu on a chat room.

Below, there will be described a process for providing content through arich menu of an official account according to at least one exampleembodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates a chat room 600 of an official account named “AAA”,according to at least one example embodiment of the inventive concepts.

Referring to FIG. 6, if a user enters a chat room 600 of an officialaccount “AAA”, a rich menu 610 set with respect to the official account“AAA” may be displayed on the graphical user interface of the chat room600, for example at a bottom end portion of the chat room 600.

For example, a rich menu 610 may be displayed in the format of templatetype which a corresponding official account manager sets at a CMS, andan image set at the CMS may be displayed.

The rich menu 610 may be set with a template including a plurality ofareas as illustrated in FIG. 6. Besides, as illustrated in FIG. 7, therich menu 710 may be constructed and/or generated using a template typein which at least two or more areas are combined in various formats.

In the case where the rich menu 610 is set with an image format, it maybe displayed as one sheet of image at a chat room 600, and areas may beidentified according to touch and/or screen coordinates.

As another example, a rich menu 810 which has the format of combinationof a text and an icon may be displayed, as illustrated in FIG. 8, at achat room 800 of the official account “AAA”, based on a template typeset at the CMS with respect to an official account “AAA”.

Likewise, the rich menu 810 having the format of combination of a textand an icon may be constructed and/or generated to have a structure inwhich at least two or more areas are variously combined according to atemplate type.

Referring to FIG. 9, if a user enters a chat room 900 with an officialaccount “AAA”, a rich menu 910 set with respect to the official account“AAA” may be displayed on the graphical user interface for the chat room900, for example at a bottom end portion of a chat room 900 as aconfigurable default. Exceptionally, the rich menu 910 having a closedstate may be provided with respect to a specific mode (e.g., store chat,on air mode, banner notice, and the like) of the chat room 900, and therich menu 910 may be selectively displayed when a user calls and/orselects a menu.

The chat room 900 may include an execution button 901 on the rich menu910. As illustrated in FIG. 9, it may be possible to open or close therich menu 910 using the execution button 901 on the chat room 900.

Referring to FIG. 10, a chat room 1000 may include a letter and/orcharacter input window 1002. If the letter input window 1002 is touchedat a displayed state of the rich menu 1010 or a cursor is activated inthe letter input window 1002 at a displayed state of the rich menu 1010,the rich menu 1010 may disappear, and a keyboard area 1020 may bedisplayed at a corresponding area.

An execution button 1001 on the rich menu 1010 may be maintained beforea letter or character is input at the letter input window 1002 and maybe switched into a send button 1003 for sending letters from a point intime when a letter is input. The send button 1003 may be switched intothe execution button 1002 if letters input at the letter input window1002 are all deleted.

Additionally, in a mode in which other menu areas, such as a sticker,emoticon, images, sounds, etc., area provided by the chat room 1000 isselected, additional menu, sticker, emoticon, images, sounds, etc. maybe displayed regardless of whether the rich menu 1010 is displayed ormay be displayed in the format of intersection with the rich menu 1010,like a keyboard area 1020.

Referring to FIG. 11, if a user selects one of display items included ina rich menu 1110 of a chat room 1100, content previously matched by amanager in connection with an area corresponding to a user-selected itemmay be transmitted to the chat room 1100.

For example, in the case where a link of an item selected by a user atthe rich menu 1110 of the chat room 1100 is a keyword, as illustrated inFIG. 11, a keyword 1150 linked to the selected item may be displayed bya unit of message which is exchanged on the chat room 1100 of theofficial account “AAA”.

As another example, as illustrated in FIG. 12, in the case where a linkof an item selected by a user at a rich menu 1210 of a chat room 1200 isan URL, a web page 1260 of a corresponding URL may be displayed whileconnecting to the URL linked to the selected item.

As another example, as illustrated in FIG. 13, in the case where a linkof an item selected by a user at a rich menu 1310 of a chat room 1300 isa telephone number, a telephone connection screen 1370 may be displayedwhile dialing the telephone number linked to the selected item.

Additionally, a content providing manner may be variously changed ormodified according to the following intentions or uses of an officialaccount manager using a rich menu: multimedia reproduction, e-mailtransfer, map execution, file download, and the like.

The example screens illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 13 are intended to helpwith the understanding of the scope and spirit of the inventiveconcepts, but are not limited thereto. A screen (e.g., graphical userinterface) construction and/or generation, a screen order and/orgraphical user interface layout, and the like may be variously changedor modified.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an internalconfiguration of a computer system according to at least one example ofthe inventive concepts.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, a computer system 1400 may include at leastone processor 1410, a memory 1420, a peripheral interface 1430, aninput/output subsystem 1440, a power circuit 1450, and a communicationcircuit 1460. The computer system 1400 may correspond to a user terminal(or a manager terminal).

For example, the memory 1420 may include a high-speed random accessmemory (RAM), a magnetic disc, a static RAM, a dynamic RAM, a read onlymemory (ROM), a flash memory, or a nonvolatile memory. The memory 1420may include a software module, a command set, or a variety of datanecessary for an operation of the computer system. The processor 1420may control an access to the memory 1420 from the processor 1410 or anyother component (e.g., the peripheral interface 1430).

The peripheral interface 1430 may couple a peripheral input and/oroutput device of the computer system 1400 to the processor 1410 and thememory 1420. The processor 1410 may execute a software module or acommand set stored at the memory 1420 to perform a variety of functionsfor the computer system 1400 and to process data.

The input/output subsystem 1440 may couple a variety of peripheralinput/output devices to the peripheral interface 1430. For example, theinput/output subsystem 1440 may include a controller for coupling amonitor, a keyboard, a mouse, a printer, a motion sensor controller, amicrophone configured to act as a voice control device, or a peripheraldevice, such as a touch screen or a sensor, to the peripheral interface1430. According to another aspect, peripheral input/output devices maybe coupled to the peripheral interface 1430 without passing through theinput/output subsystem 1440.

All or a part of the components of a terminal may be powered by thepower circuit 1450. For example, the power circuit 1450 may include apower management system, one or more power sources such as a battery oran alternating current (AC), a charging system, a power failuredetection circuit, a power converter or inverter, a power statusindicator, or any other components for power generation, management, anddistribution.

The communication circuit 1460 may communicate with other computersystem using at least one external port. As described above, thecommunication circuit 1460 may include a RF circuit and may communicatewith other computer system by transmitting and receiving an RF signalknown as an electromagnetic signal.

The computer system 1400 depicted in FIG. 14 is provided forillustrative purposes only, and the computer system 1400 is not limitedthereto. The computer system 1400 may not include some of componentsillustrated in FIG. 14, may further include components not illustratedin FIG. 14, or may be implemented such that two or more components arecombined. For example, the computer system 1400 for a mobile terminal ofa communication environment may include a touch screen, a sensor, andthe like as well as components illustrated in FIG. 14, and thecommunication 1460 may include circuits for RF communications such aswireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi), 3G, 4G, long term evolution (LTE), Bluetooth,near field communication (NFC), Zigbee, and the like. Components capableof being included in the computer system 1400 may be implemented withhardware, including an integrated circuit specialized for one or moresignal processing or an application (e.g., an ASIC), software, or acombination thereof.

Methods according to at least one example embodiment of the inventiveconcepts may be implemented in the format of program instructionsexecutable through various computer systems and may be recorded at acomputer-readable medium. In particular, a program according to at leastone example embodiment of the inventive concepts may be a PC-basedprogram or an application dedicated to a mobile terminal. A messengerapplication to which the inventive concepts are applied may beimplemented in the format of in-app of a specific application or in theformat of program independently operating. Furthermore, the messengerapplication may be installed on a user terminal (or a manager terminal)through a file which a file distribution system provides. For example,the file distribution system may include a file transfer unit (notillustrated) which transfers the file in response to a request of a userterminal (or a manager terminal).

As such, according to at least one example embodiment of the inventiveconcepts, a portion of a menu displayed at an official account interfacemay be freely used according to various intentions or uses of anofficial account manager, by providing a tool which allows the officialaccount manager to input a desired label through a menu of the officialaccount interface. According to at least one example embodiment of theinventive concepts, a new communication channel with an official accountmay be implemented by providing a rich menu associated with an officialaccount to the official account interface and providing contentpreviously set by the official account manager through the officialaccount interface in selecting the rich menu.

Although being described with reference to specific examples anddrawings, modifications, additions and substitutions on embodiments maybe variously made according to the description by those of ordinaryskill in the art. For example, the described techniques may be performedin an order different with that of the methods described, and/orcomponents such as the described system, architecture, devices, circuit,and the like, may be connected or combined to be different from theabove-described methods, or results may be appropriately achieved byother components or equivalents.

According to at least one example embodiment of the inventive concepts,a portion of a menu displayed at an official account interface may befreely used according to various intentions or uses of an officialaccount manager, by providing a tool which allows the official accountmanager inputs a desired label through a menu of the official accountinterface.

According to at least one example embodiment of the inventive concepts,a new communication channel with an official account may be implementedby providing a rich menu associated with an official account to theofficial account interface and providing content previously set by theofficial account manager through the official account interface inselecting the rich menu.

The example embodiments as disclosed herein may comprise program codeincluding program instructions, software components, software modules,data files, data structures, and/or the like that are implemented by oneor more physical hardware devices. Examples of program code include bothmachine code produced by a compiler and higher level program code thatis executed using an interpreter. The hardware devices may include oneor more processors. The one or more processors are computer processingdevices configured to carry out the program code by performingarithmetical, logical, and input/output operations. Once the programcode is loaded into the one or more processors, the one or moreprocessors may be programmed to perform the program code, therebytransforming the one or more processors into special purposeprocessor(s).

Alternatively, or in addition to the processors discussed above, thehardware devices may include one or more Central Processing Units(CPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs),application-specific-integrated-circuits (ASICs), SoCs, fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), or the like. In at least some cases,the one or more CPUs, SoCs, DSPs, ASICs and FPGAs, may generally bereferred to as processing circuits and/or microprocessors.

The hardware devices may also include one or more storage devices. Theone or more storage devices may be tangible or non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media, such as random access memory (RAM),read only memory (ROM), a permanent mass storage device (such as a diskdrive), and/or any other like data storage mechanism capable of storingand recording data. The one or more storage devices may be configured tostore program code for one or more operating systems and/or the programcode for implementing the example embodiments described herein. Theprogram code may also be loaded from a separate computer readablestorage medium into the one or more storage devices and/or the one ormore processors using a drive mechanism. Such separate computer readablestorage medium may include a USB flash drive, memory stick,Blu-ray/DVD/CD-ROM drive, memory card, and/or other like computerreadable storage medium (not shown). The program code may be loaded intothe one or more storage devices and/or the one or more processors from aremote data storage device via a network interface, rather than via acomputer readable storage medium. Additionally, the program code may beloaded into the one or more storage devices and/or the one or moreprocessors from a remote computing system that is configured to transferand/or distribute the program code over a network. The remote computingsystem may transfer and/or distribute the program code via a wiredinterface, an air interface, and/or any other like tangible orintangible medium. The one or more processors, the one or more storagedevices, and/or the program code may be specially designed andconstructed for the purposes of the example embodiments, or they may beknown devices that are altered and/or modified for the purposes of theexample embodiments.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the example embodimentswithout departing from the spirit or scope of the inventive conceptsdescribed herein. Thus, it is intended that the example embodimentscover the modifications and variations of the example embodimentsprovided they come within the scope of the appended claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing an instant messagingservice implemented with a server, the method comprising: providing,using at least one processor of the server, a rich menu constructiontool for constructing a rich menu associated with an official accountregistered with the instant messaging service, the rich menuconstruction tool providing a plurality of template rich menu userinterfaces to a manager of the official account, each of the pluralityof template rich menu user interfaces including at least one displayitem and each of the plurality of template rich menu user interfaceshaving a different number of display items; receiving, using the atleast one processor, a selection of one of the plurality of templaterich menu user interfaces from the manager; connecting, using the atleast one processor, content to each of the at least one display itemsincluded in the selected rich menu user interface through the rich menuconstruction tool, the content uploaded by the manager; receiving, usingat least one processor, a request to establish a conversation interfacewith the official account from a client; providing, using the at leastone processor, the rich menu user interface associated with the officialaccount to the client on a portion of the conversation interface whenthe client establishes the conversation interface in response to therequest; receiving, using the at least one processor, a selection on theat least one display item included in the provided rich menu userinterface from the client; identifying, using the at least oneprocessor, the content associated with the selected display item; andproviding, using the at least one processor, the identified contentassociated with the selected display item to the client through theconversation interface.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the providingof the identified content comprises: transmitting, using the at leastone processor, a desired keyword through the conversation interface tothe client when the desired keyword is associated with the content atthe selected display item.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein theproviding of the identified content comprises: transmitting, using theat least one processor, a uniform resource locator (URL) includinginformation associated with a desired web page through the conversationinterface when the URL is associated with the content at the selecteddisplay item.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing of theidentified content comprises: transmitting, using the at least oneprocessor, an action code through the conversation interface when theaction code is associated with the content at the display item, theaction code including computer readable instructions that call a desiredprogram on the client.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the atleast one display item for each of the plurality of template rich menuuser interfaces is configured to receive at least one piece of content;and the rich menu construction tool is configured to connect the atleast one content to at least one display items included in the selectedrich menu.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the rich menu constructiontool comprises: a template type selection function to select a templatetype of the rich menu; and a content connection function to connect thecontent to each user interface area included in the selected templaterich menu user interface.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the richmenu construction tool further comprises: an image setting function toset an image of the rich menu based on the template type, or a textsetting function to set a text and an icon of the rich menu.
 8. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the rich menu construction tool furthercomprises at least one of a display function to set a display on/offsetting of the rich menu or a duration function to set a displayduration setting of the rich menu.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein thecontent connection function connects a keyword input or an URL input asthe content.
 10. A device for providing an instant messaging service,the device comprising: at least one processor configured to executecomputer readable instructions to, transmit a request to establish aconversation interface with an official account registered at theinstant messaging service; display a rich menu user interface associatedwith the official account on a portion of the conversation interfaceupon establishing the conversation interface, the rich menu userinterface including at least one display item, the rich menu userinterface including a template rich menu user interface selected by theofficial account from a plurality of template rich menu user interfaces,the rich menu user interface was created using a rich menu constructiontool for constructing a rich menu associated with the official accountregistered with the instant messaging service, the rich menuconstruction tool providing a plurality of template rich menu userinterfaces, each of the plurality of template rich menu user interfacesincluding at least one display item and each of the plurality oftemplate rich menu user interfaces having a different number of displayitems; receive a selection input related to the at least one displayitem included in the provided rich menu user interface; transmit arequest to receive content associated with the selected display item;receive the content associated with the selected display item; anddisplay the received content through the conversation interface.
 11. Thedevice of claim 10, wherein the receiving of the content comprises:displaying the content through the conversation interface by the messagewhen the received content is a desired keyword.
 12. The device of claim10, wherein the receiving of the content comprises: executing a web pagecorresponding to a desired URL when the received content is the desiredURL.
 13. The device of claim 10, wherein the receiving of the contentcomprises: executing a desired program when the received contentincludes an action code for calling the desired program.
 14. A systemfor providing an instant messaging service, the system comprising: amemory having computer readable instructions stored thereon; and atleast one processor configured to execute the computer readableinstructions to, provide a management tool for constructing a rich menuassociated with an official account registered with the instantmessaging service, the rich menu construction tool providing a pluralityof template rich menu user interfaces to a manager of the officialaccount, each of the plurality of template rich menu user interfacesincluding at least one display item and each of the plurality oftemplate rich menu user interfaces having a different number of displayitems, and each of the plurality of template rich menu user interfacesincluding a conversation interface for displaying a conversation betweenat least two users of the instant messaging service; receive a selectionof one of the plurality of template rich menu user interfaces from themanager; connect content to each of the at least one display itemsincluded in the selected rich menu user interface through the rich menuconstruction tool, the content uploaded by the manager; and provide theselected rich menu user interface linked to the official account on aportion of the conversation interface when a client establishes aconversation interface with the official account over the instantmessaging service.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to: receive a selection of a displayitem included in the rich menu from the client; identify contentassociated with the selected display item by the manager; and providethe identified content to the client through the conversation interface.16. The system of claim 14, wherein the management tool comprises: atemplate type selection function to select a template type on the richmenu user interface from the plurality of template rich menu userinterfaces; and a content connection function to connect the content toeach user interface area included in the selected template rich menuuser interface.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the management toolfurther comprises an image setting function to set an image of the richmenu user interface based on the template type, or a text settingfunction to set a text and an icon of the rich menu user interface. 18.The system of claim 16, wherein the management tool further comprises atleast one of a display function to set a display on/off setting of therich menu user interface, or a duration function to set a displayduration setting of the rich menu user interface.
 19. The system ofclaim 16, wherein the content connection function inputs a keyword or anURL as the content.